Still Got It
by ohfortheloveofsinbad
Summary: In an AU for Sinbad's 7th dungeon, he decides he must conquer a new dungeon in order to keep the interest of the one he loves and, at the same time, prove that he is still young, fit and perfectly capable of being a king. He gets more than he bargained for in his most difficult dungeon yet, however. Actually not very focused around romance, rated T for violence and strong language.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! I've posted several stories today as my gift to you, so please enjoy!**

* * *

 _Sinbad stared down in horror at Ja'far, who dangled off of the edge of a bottomless pit by one hand and held Yamuraiha with the other._

 _Ja'far stared back, the effort of supporting more weight than he was used to with a single hand showed clearly on his flushed face._

 _"OH my, my, my! Whoopsie! It seems I accidentally pushed them off the edge!" came a high male voice laced with sarcasm and giggles. "New challenge! I'll only let you save ONE of them!"_

 _"You bastard...!" Hinahoho snarled._

 _"S-Sin?" Yamuraiha squeaked, panic apparent in her voice._

 _"I'll swing her up," Ja'far said nonchalantly. He had looked away and refused to meet Sinbad's eyes._

 _"B-but Ja'far, you'll-"_

 _"It's either me or you, Yamu," Ja'far interrupted, "and I'm not going to let you drop."_

 _"I'm not going to let_ either _of you drop," Sinbad said. "Swing Yamuraiha up, but don't let go of her. We'll pull you both up at the same time."_

 _"Got it," Ja'far puffed as he began swinging Yamuraiha back and forth, starting with small movements._

 _A giggle echoed throughout the room, but Sinbad elected to ignore it._

 _"He's planning something. If he pulls anything, save Yamuraiha, alright?" Ja'far puffed._

 _"Stop talking. I'll get you both." Sinbad assured._

 _"This'd be... Ungh! S-So much easier if I had my blades!" Ja'far groaned._

 _"It'd be so much easier if he hadn't taken all our weapons period!" Sinbad hissed._

 _Ja'far finally gained enough momentum to swing Yamuraiha up in the air._

 _She screamed and flailed, but her hand stayed latched onto Ja'far's._

 _Hinahoho caught her legs, and, with Sinbad's help, began pulling her up._

 _"See? I told you I'd get you both out of this," Sinbad said smugly, unable to see the grip Yamuraiha had on Ja'far's hand as his gaze was mostly directed toward her panties._

 _"Hurry the fuck up! I'm slipping!" Ja'far gasped in a panic._

 _Sinbad gasped and let go of Yamuraiha to reach for Ja'far, he trusted Hinahoho . "Here, grab my-" he stopped mid-sentence when something shiny caught his gaze. It seemed to be headed straight for Ja'far._

 _"No!" Sinbad screamed. The word had just barely left his lips when the object slid across Ja'far's fingers._

 _In horrified fascination, the king watched his adviser's reactions. Time seemed to have slowed almost to a stop, and all sound outside of his steadily increasing heartbeat and rapid breaths seemed to have completely vanished._

 _The former assassin's face contorted in pain. A spray of blood dirtied the wall he hung off of as his fingers were severed from his hand. Quickly, his advisor moved to hold the injured appendage to his chest to try and stop the blood flow with his robes._

 _Terror flashed in Ja'far's eyes as he heard a crack. The ledge he had been holding onto for dear life had given way._

 _He screamed; his uninjured hand stayed stretched out above his head as he fell, as though if, by some miracle, Sinbad's arms might become like Vittel's and be able to become long enough to save him. Down, down, down into the abyss he fell until he disappeared into the darkness._

* * *

Sinbad woke with a loud gasp, covered in sweat. He wiped at his face, then placed a hand on his chest as he slowed his breaths.

"Sin?" came a sudden groggy voice that held some urgency to it.

The king jumped, then suddenly remembered who it was who had been lying with him. He grabbed Ja'far and pulled him close in a tight hug.

Ja'far gasped in surprise at the sudden movement and squirmed to get comfortable in Sinbad's arms. His king gave him some room to worm around, but right after Ja'far settled, Sinbad's arms locked like a vice around him.

"What happened?" The adviser asked finally.

"Bad dream..." Sinbad mumbled.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's over and done with... but promise me something..."

"Should it be within my power, I will do anything," Ja'far said with a small smile.

"Never leave me. Always stay by my side," Sinbad whispered.

Ja'far chuckled softly. "I will stay by your side until the day I die."

Sinbad frowned at the response.

"D-did I say something wrong, Sin?" Ja'far whispered, his face had gone bright red with embarrassment.

"... No. You responded in the way you thought best. There is nothing wrong with that," the king said softly.

"Sin?"

"Shush, Ja'far... Let's just go back to sleep..."

Ja'far stared at Sinbad for a few moments, unsure of whether to press the subject a little more. After thinking hard about it, he decided against pestering his tired king. Ja'far pressed a loving kiss to his king's lips before he snuggled into the older man's chest.


	2. Morning Meeting

"Now that everyone is here, we shall begin the meeting. If anyone has any objections to this, please speak now," Ja'far said, his voice was almost monotonous, as that was what he announced every morning, before every meeting.

No one protested, and Ja'far smiled politely. He stood up straight and set his shoulders back. "The kingdom of Sindria is prosperous as always, but we still need to settle in the refugees come from Sinbad's latest excursion in Reim. We do not have enough houses built yet, and I'm expecting all of you to assist in the building."

A chorus of groans sounded throughout the hall, and Ja'far sighed softly. "I'm very sorry, but we have too many new citizens to worry about. We also have to keep up patrols, so I'll help you all set up a schedule. I'll allow breaks every other hour, and I'll try to find time to help you all out myself, but I need to put together a budget plan for this month, and I have several other important documents I need to look over, along with complaint and request forms to sign."

"Aw, come on!" Sharrkan whined. "I get the budget and all, but can't you get someone else to look over those stupid forms? They're not worth your time. And couldn't Sinbad look over those documents himself?"

"I need to know what Sin is getting himself into. As for the forms, I need to add the times for the complaint hearings to a schedule book, and I need to look over the request forms myself, as some of the demands those who wish to travel make are unreasonable," Ja'far explained.

"Then set some freaking ground rules for okaying the stuff!" Sharrkan huffed. "And have Sinbad come to you after he's read through the conditions and whatever so that you can talk over the terms and whatever the hell else!"

Ja'far glared at him for a few seconds. "I'm not going to spend this precious time explaining why that won't work," he said. "Now, back to more important matters. We're going to need to-"

"You just don't want to admit that I actually gave you a good plan!" Sharrkan interrupted.

Ja'far's face turned a shade of pink out of anger, and he curled his hands, which were thankfully hidden by his sleeves, into fists. "That is not the reason, Sharrkan, and I'll tell you the reasons after the meeting if you so desire, but right now, you're wasting precious time by arguing."

The Heliohapt huffed and reclined in his chair. He lifted a foot and rested it on the table, which caused Ja'far, who was already glaring daggers at him, to glare harder.

"If I might interrupt," Hinahoho said, he hoped to cut some of the tension in the air, "You really do take too much of that paperwork upon yourself. Perhaps it would be best for you to delegate some of it."

Ja'far huffed angrily, and Sharrkan grinned cheekily.

"I would gladly consider it," Ja'far said, his voice raised somewhat in anger, "and I would gladly delegate my work, had I someone I trusted enough to do it correctly."

"Oi, that's not fair, Ja'far. Those servants are just as proud and hard-working and inclined toward perfection as you are, and to say that you don't trust them is insulting," Drakon interjected.

Ja'far growled. "I didn't mean that I didn't trust them to do their jobs! I trust them to do their own work, but-"

"You never give them any work because you always do all of it yourself" Sharrkan interrupted.

Mutters began to sound throughout the room as the other generals began to chatter and gossip amongst themselves.

Ja'far grit his teeth and dug his nails into his palms so that he wouldn't throw a blade at the Heliohapt. "That is untrue. Work is delegated fairly among-"

"Fairly? You always take all of it!" Sharrkan cut in.

Everyone seemed to lose interest in the meeting as Ja'far and Sharrkan bickered, and in order to sate their boredom, they started to hold conversations of their own. Pisti shouted and teased Sinbad, and Spartos and Yamuraiha agreed with her light-hearted jabs.

"Gray hairs, gray hairs! Sin's getting grey hairs!" Pisti giggled.

Sinbad pulled the end of his long ponytail up to his face to examine it. "Am not! It's all luscious purple here! No gray to be seen!"

"I dunno, Sin, I think it is looking pretty grey up at the top," Yamuraiha teased.

"Ack! You liars!" Sinbad hissed, then looked over to Spartos. "Spartos! Tell me they're lying!" he begged.

Said man looked off to the side. "I believe they are telling the truth," he said, and lifted a cup of water to his lips to hide a small smile. Since he had been born and had lived in Sasan for a great deal of his life around stuffy, humorless people, many believed that Spartos himself had no sense of humor. Such a belief was mostly true, but his years spent in Sindria helped him to develop one, though his ability to participate in teasing and joking obviously needed to be polished, and his humor did not often surface, especially at times like this, but, hey, everyone else was doing it, so it must've been alright, right?

"Spartos, you, too?!" Sinbad cried, a look of betrayal on his face.

Ja'far's upper lip twitched of its own accord as he tried to keep himself calm. It wasn't worth the time or energy to blow up, especially when he had finally gotten Sharrkan to shut his mouth. "If I could just get a word in here-"

"To try and explain why no one but you can do anything right?" Sharrkan asked.

And at that moment, his last shred of patience was shattered.

Ja'far angrily slammed his fist on the table. A strange, dark aura seemed to shroud around him. "That is enough!" he declared, and everyone immediately went quiet. Even Sharrkan seemed to shrink back in his chair, his foot slipped off the table as he did so.

"What I do is my own business, and I would prefer if you all would respect that and stick to your assigned duties without any further question!" Ja'far snapped.

"They were making fun of my hair!" Sinbad whined from the back.

"You haven't told us who's supposed to do what, yet!" Pisti pointed out.

The adviser grit his teeth and dug his nails into his palms so hard, he was sure they had started to bleed. "Sin, I don't give a damn about your hair right now," he hissed, then turned to Pisti, "You and Sharrkan have border patrols. Everyone else, houses," he decided, his voice a little more professional.

Pisti nodded and smiled, obviously pleased with what she had been assigned, and Ja'far's mood lifted ever so slightly when there were no groans or complaints.

That only lasted a short while, however.

"Does my hair look grey to you, Ja'far?" Sinbad asked.

Yamuraiha grimaced and sucked in a loud breath through her teeth. She placed a hand on Sinbad's shoulder.

"I think I already told you that I don't care," Ja'far growled.

"But I want a straight answer!" Sinbad whined.

Hinahoho nervously planted a huge hand on the table, prepared to get up and grab Ja'far in case the former assassin happened to forget the golden rule of _you shouldn't kill your allies_. He could feel some sort of tingle in the air, and he was sure it was because the adviser had angrily released some of his magoi, which was electricity-based.

"I want you to stop being childish," Ja'far growled.

"Stop avoiding the question!" Sinbad demanded.

Hinahoho swallowed nervously. He believed he knew the reason as to why Ja'far was so irritable. "Ja'far, how long has it been since you last slept?" he asked. He was too preoccupied with Ja'far's face for any signs that he was about to spring to notice the look of horror that Sharrkan shot at him.

The adviser answered Hinahoho first, albeit more gently than he had been with any of the others. He was mad, sure, but he still knew to respect his elders. "I'm sure that I've come to more than a couple of our recent daily meetings without having had a moment's rest, but I usually don't record the amount of time of which I am awake," he said, then turned back to Sinbad. "I'm not avoiding your question, I'm telling you it's stupid."

Sinbad puffed out his cheeks. "You're telling me it's stupid _and_ avoiding it!" he pointed out.

Ja'far's upper lip drew back in a snarl. He figured, as Sinbad had wasted his time and frustrated him so.

"C'mon!" his king urged. "Do you think my hair has turned grey?"

The adviser glared at him for a few seconds before he swallowed thickly. He opened his mouth, which felt like cotton. "... it must be from the stress of running the kingdom," he said, his voice quiet, just barely louder than a whisper, but everyone in the room heard it as clearly as if he had shouted it.

Sharrkan drew in a huge breath and slammed a hand over his mouth to keep from shouting. His eyes were as wide as saucers, his eyebrows seemed to be buried in his hairline, and he wanted so very badly to laugh, but even he knew that it wasn't the appropriate time to do so.

He wasn't the only one in shock. Every general had an expression of surprise on their face, and Sinbad sat completely still in his chair, his mouth agape and eyes wide.

Ja'far quickly decided that what he said was a mistake, considering the faces everyone made, but he'd be damned if he was going to apologize after they all had worked him to that point. Instead, he blushed softly and coughed, then straightened his robes in order to show composure. "Meeting dismissed," he said after a brief moment of hesitation, and promptly left the room.

Hinahoho had half the mind to chase after him and force him to take a nap, but, instead, his eyes were drawn to Sinbad, as were everyone else's, and they all waited in an awkward silence for their shocked king to speak after that incredibly low blow to his pride.

The purple-haired man slowly regained his composure. His mouth closed, and his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed thickly. He cleared his throat before opening his mouth once more to speak.

"... you heard him. You're all dismissed," he said quietly.

The silence was deafening when all of the generals stood and made to leave. They would talk about it amongst themselves later on, for they knew that to talk about the matter with the king's presence in the room when it had so obviously crushed him was a merciless thing to do.

"Not you," Sinbad said when his gaze caught Hinahoho's. "I would like to speak with you in private."

The Imuchakk warrior sat back down in his seat, as he had just gotten up. "Very well."

Sinbad moved so that he sat across from Hinahoho, and waited until every last general had left and the door had been closed before he allowed his head to fall against the smooth marble of the long table where he sat. "That was so mean!" he cried childishly into the stone.

Hinahoho inwardly sighed in relief. He thought he had been in trouble for a moment, even though he knew he had done nothing wrong. "He was tired, and you knew he was very irritated. You should have known better than to push a childish matter onto him at such a time," he scolded.

"It wasn't childish!" Sinbad insisted after he shot back upright. "It was a legitimate question!"

"That he considered a waste of his time! Really, Sin, you should've expected a cutting remark!" Hinahoho sighed.

Sinbad sniffled and placed his head back on the table. "He thinks I'm old..."

"You know perfectly well that it was a jab to get back at you after pushing a pointless matter."

"He said my hair was turning grey in front of everyone, and before the meeting, when he was escorting me here, he told me that I needed to get a wife soon, and that he was going to put together a list of princesses and maidens and force me to choose one!"

"Sin, he's-"

Sinbad gasped. His head shot up and his fist slammed down on the table. "He's lost interest in me," he said suddenly.

Hinahoho stared at him for a moment. "What?"

"He called me old, he wants me to get a wife, he hasn't had sex with me in over a month... He must think I'm not good enough for him anymore," Sinbad said, his eyes widened in realization. "He hates me."

"Sin, he doesn't hate you. He didn't call you old-"

"He implied it!"

"- he's _always_ nagging you to take a wife-"

"But now he's planning on forcing me to!"

"- and you _know_ he doesn't think about sex as much as you do. In fact, I'm almost certain that that stick-in-the-mud doesn't even _have_ a sex drive, and he only lets you take him because you're persistent and he's got a soft spot for you!"

Sinbad pursed his lips. "He always seems to like it, though..."

Hinahoho huffed. "Maybe he's only pretending to like it to make you feel better."

It wasn't until the words fell from his mouth that he realized that he shouldn't have said them.

Sinbad looked about ready to cry. "Pretending...?" he repeated softly.

 _Shit..._ Hinahoho sighed. "Sin, that's not what I meant..."

A small surge of determination washed over Sinbad. "No, no! I get it! Maybe I need to renew his interest!" he said.

The king had had taken the careless words better than Hinahoho originally thought, thankfully. It was truly a great thing that Sinbad was always easily motivated through his disappointment.

"And how, exactly, are you planning on renewing his interest?" the Imuchakk asked. "You know he's never been much for the romantic stuff. He gets... well, awkward, if I'm being blunt."

"I know, I know..." Sinbad grumbled. "He's really not impressed with much..."

Hinahoho smiled softly at him. "You'll figure something out, though I'm sure you're just overthinking this," he assured. "I have to go. I'm sure the others will need my strength in order to build those homes. I hope to see you soon," he said, then stood and left.

 _Sinbad stared after him. Thank you, Hinahoho. I always appreciate our talks,_ he thought. _And now... I think I know what I have to do, even if you didn't give me any ideas._

 _I think it's time I captured a new dungeon._


End file.
